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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Never a Dull Moment

If one has had a child, it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that one knows something about pregnancy and how one's body will react to the weirdness inside. It is comforting to believe that one has some familiarity with what will happen.

It is almost as delusional as it is comforting.

Every pregnancy is it's own little roller coaster, where the plunges tend to be less thrilling and more embarrassing. For my part, I have a new thing going on: PuPPP, which is the cute name for Pruitic Uricarial Papules of Pregnancy. It isn't dangerous, but it is (in my case) a bit unattractive (looks like light heat rash) and very uncomfortable (making up for being hard to see by being incredibly itchy). I'm so glad not it is not summer. This business in the heat would probably send me diving into the Hudson River.

I have now invested in a wide array of skin creams and soaks that, it has been suggested, may ease these symptoms.

The cure? Glad you asked. There is only one cure. The cure is delivery and that is something I need to put off for a while, so I'm entertaining any tips and suggestions for home remedies, temporary as they may be.

Adding to the indignity is the fact that Felix heard me describing my symptoms to my doctor on the phone, which I did to confirm my self-diagnosis, and the following morning greeted his father with the happy announcement: "Mommy has a big, big, big, big, big rash!"

I suppose it will be at least ten years before I can begin to hope he will learn to be discrete.

posted by Elise at 12:03 PM

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3 Comments:

Melissa said...

Hang in there! I've suffered from chronic eczema for years - the rash looks an awful lot like PuPPP - and during my pregnancy it has gone crazy. What has worked for me is Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is great, but in the case of skin disorders, this is where herbs really shine. They taste foul, but they really keep the itchiness at bay. If you can find a practioner who makes herbal anti-itching cream (like Dr. Li at Yo San in LA) even better. The combo of herbal cream and herb powder has helped restore my sanity - and my top layer of skin. Best of all, it's safe for use during pregnancy. No icky steroids or cortisone to worry about. I hope you find relief!

3/24/2007 6:51 AM

Anonymous said...

Yuck! Sorry to hear about that, Elise. I had it slightly when I was pregnant with Sarah, mostly on my abdomen. The bad news is that it got far worse about a week after she was born and lasted for seven weeks! When Sarah was five days old, I suddenly felt a horrible rash burst out on my arms. Before long, it had spread to my thighs and stomach. It was very difficult to find a doctor who would take me seriously and I finally gave up. I just basically toughed it out as nothing I tried worked. I met two other women who had babies at the same time who were also suffering from similar problems. And they say it's a rare disorder! Yeah, right. That's only because the OBs aren't trained in dermatology and the dermatologists aren't trained in OB. I suspect it's widespread and very underreported. Fortunately, it did go away and I experienced none of these problems when I was pregnant with Peter (or after). Good luck!

--Elizabeth

3/26/2007 10:41 AM

Deborah Graff said...

I had it my first pregnancy and it finally disappeared about two weeks before delivery. I was on my knees in thankfulness. I didn't have it my second pregnancy.

3/28/2007 11:03 AM

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